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The
36 trillion yen ($317 billion) budget earmarks funds for
tackling COVID-19, including to secure vaccines and drugs, while
it also features cash payouts for families with children and
funds for the promotion of tourism.
It is the biggest supplementary budget the government has
implemented ever. Japan's government issued three extra budgets
in the last fiscal year.
The extra budget will be partly financed by some 22 trillion yen
worth of additional government bonds to be issued in the current
fiscal year.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his first extra budget was
aimed at restoring the COVID-hit economy and achieving a
virtuous cycle of growth and wealth distribution, while fixing
the country's public finances in the long run.
The budget is also targeted at promoting tourism, ensuring
corporate funding, boosting growth in the green and digital
transformation and strengthening semiconductor factories and
supply chains.
The extra budget will also be a source of funding for the
government's record 79 trillion yen economic package unveiled
last month. The government says the package, which includes a
record 55.7 trillion yen in spending, will boost gross domestic
product by around 5.6% -- an estimate private-sector economists
say is too optimistic.
The extra budget will be followed by an annual budget for the
next fiscal year, to be compiled later this week, securing
16-months' worth of spending.
($1 = 113.5400 yen)
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da
Costa)
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